Off the Shelf: Colm Toibin

Off the Shelf is a regular segment on the Book Show where we ask writers and artists to tell us about a book or books that have influenced their thinking, or one that they go back to for inspiration. Irish writer Colm Toibin has a long interest in the American novel and Henry James which culminated in his book The Master, shortlisted for the Man Booker in 2004. It went on to win him Dublin's IMPAC literary award. His latest collection of stories is called The Empty Family and it's published by Picador.

For his top reads, he's chosen Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast and The Sun Also Rises